 | Carterton Community College Q&A Session |
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David is engaging in a series of "webchats" with local students in his constituency. Below are the questions and answers of the session with Year 8 at Carterton Community College. For more information, please email Hannah Parmley on parmleyh@parliament.uk.
1. Did you always want to be an MP? What would you have been if not?
I wanted to do lots of different jobs when I was at school: I wanted to drive a lorry and I thought about being a fireman or going into the Army. But it wasn’t until much later that I thought I wanted to be an MP and I'm very lucky to have discovered what I wanted to do and to really enjoy it.
2. Do you enjoy living the life of an MP and would you like to be voted as an MP again?
I very much enjoy being an MP, it can be very fulfilling when helping your constituents with problems they have, I enjoy meeting lots of people from all different walks of life and it is good to have clear goals and ways you hope to achieve them. I certainly hope to be voted in as an MP again at the next election!
3. What football team do you support?
I support Aston Villa. They were the first team I went to see.
4. What's the most interesting thing that has happened in your job?
I get to meet lots of very interesting people such as President Obama and Nelson Mandela. I also am able to visit places such as Afghanistan where I meet our very brave troops who are out there doing incredible things on our behalf.
5. Tell us about your childhood.
I had a very happy childhood, I grew up in the West Berkshire countryside with my brother and two sisters.
6. What was the most important decision you have had to make?
I regularly have to make important decisions such as whether to support the government in their proposals and who to appoint to my Shadow Cabinet. I thought long and hard about whether to run to be Leader of the Conservative Party not least as I knew it would bring about many changes for me and my family. But the best decision I ever made was ask Samantha to marry me.
7. What qualifications do you need to be an MP?
There aren’t any specific qualifications like a particular degree or a particular background. We need politicians with a variety of different real-life experiences which is one of the reasons I have recently encouraged people with no political experience to apply to become an MP.
I do think, however, that certain skills are needed to be a good MP, for example: to enjoy meeting and talking with people, to think clearly and rationally on a wide variety of complex subjects, and to be hard-working and dedicated.
8. Why do you want to be the Prime Minister?
I believe our country needs change, and taking in a different direction. I believe that the Conservative Party, under my leadership, has the right values to bring about the right change which will benefit everyone in Britain.
9. Do you think all the people like the new shopping centre in Witney?
I certainly hope so. I opened it and I think it’s great. It’s a really valuable contribution to our town and what I particularly like is that it is integrated into the very centre of the town, it has not been built on the edge like so many of these shopping centres often are.
10. Would you send more troops to Afghanistan if you became PM?
The Government has in fact just decided to do this and I fully support them in this decision.
I have been to Afghanistan four times and have thought long and hard about what we are doing there. Afghanistan under the Taliban was the cradle of terrorism. Removing the Taliban was right and stopping them from taking over again is also right. This means we need to support the government of Afghanistan and provide the space for peaceful development of this country. Our Armed Forces in Afghanistan are extremely brave and we owe it to them to ensure that we succeed in this mission.
 
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